"The Alfa Romeo Spider 1600, to give it its official factory name, was manufactured during 1966 and 1967. The name 'Duetto' came about from a competition held by Alfa Romeo to distinguish the car from its Giulia 105 series stable mates, the Coupé and Berlina, and was accepted for its reference to the two-seat layout. The Duetto name only applied to the 1600 model; two later variants, with different engine sizes, were the 1750 Velocé and 1300 Junior. All of the models are commonly known today as roundtail spiders. These advanced motor cars were fitted, as standard, with twin cam engines, five-speed gearboxes and disc brakes on all four wheels.
Offered here is a unique opportunity to bring back to its former glory a rare and beautiful genuine 1967 Duetto Spider. First registered on 25th May 1967, the car was fully restored in the mid 70’s by the previous owner Mr. Frank Pollock who, after enjoying the car extensively, sold it on to the vendor in 1988. The car was a concours winner no less than six times between 1981 and 1992 and amazingly, much of its concours documentation remains within the car’s history file including scoring sheets, entries and pictures. Also included in the beautifully presented history file are photos of the bare metal restoration along with virtually all its tax discs and MoT certificates between 1977 and when the car was laid up in 1998. Several publications featuring the car are also supplied with the car, including a copy of Classic and Sports Car magazine from September 1984 with the car on the front cover and included in a five page article on the Spider models.
Some may question how such a beautifully presented car, with two such fastidious long term owners, could fall into such disrepair. The story, an all too familiar one, is that the car, was put into the vendor’s garage, along with a Sprint Speciale (also featured in this auction), when he started spending more time working abroad. As his career blossomed, time flew by and unbeknown to him a tree branch fell and broke a hole through his garage’s roof. Further deterioration followed until the cars found themselves in their current state. Upon close inspection however, the cars appear to be in better condition than an initial glance might lead one to believe. The cellulose paint has survived very well overall, with both the boot and engine bay presenting very well. The interior, with some very rare elements, on the whole is salvageable, despite clearly needing a new hood.
Supplied with its V5C logbook, original service book, instruction book, toolkit, history file, tax discs, MoT test certificates, magazine articles, restoration photos, concours history and many Alfa Romeo Owners Club magazines. This beautiful and most desirable of Spiders is complete and offers a rare opportunity for someone to put their own stamp on and to extend the previously illustrious life of this lovely little Alfa."